Basic sentence structure

Subjects
a) phonologysounds
b) morphologythe shape of words and
affixes
c) syntaxthe ways words are combined into
larger structures including sentences
d) semanticsmeaning
e) pragmaticslanguage in a social context
f) discoursechunks of language larger than
a sentence
 The Chihuahua ate the cockroach.
The cockroach ate the Chihuahua.

Father is cooking. (food)

Father is cooking. (cannibals)

Can you give me an extension? (social

context)
Give me an extension.

Can you pass the salt? Yes/No

 the bear, Goldy, my porridge, ate, eaten,
gave, given, was, to, by
Goldy ate. Goldy gave the bear my porridge.
Goldy ate my porridge. Goldy gave my
porridge to the bear.
The bear ate. The bear was given my
porridge.
The bear ate my porridge. My porridge was
given to the bear.
Although many of these sentences are closely
related, no two are identical in form. And
this is the key to the efficiency of language
the same words can be combined into
different structures and different words can
be put into the same structures.
Theoretically, the speakers of any language
can produce an infinite number of sentences
with a finite number of words and structures.
"subject" + "predicate"
The grammatical subject = the
conversational subject i.e., the person or
thing that the sentence is about.
The predicate often makes a comment about
that subject, i.e., it "predicates (Stated or
asserted; predicated)

English = subject dominant language

 The distinction between the subject and
predicate is the basic division within the
sentence. Grammarians have been aware of
this distinction for millennia and in modern
times a number of different graphic devices
have been employed to capture this division.

Children|love animals.
 The generative grammars of the 1970s
S

NP VP

V NP

Children love animals

 The construction grammars of the 1990s

Children love animals

Each of these graphic devices underscores

the same insightthat all English sentences
can be divided into two basic structures
(subject and predicate) and the subject is
(typically) first.
 A simple subject is always a noun phrase, and a noun
phrase is a proper name, a pronoun, a noun, or a noun plus
its modifiers.

The basic structure of a noun phrase

noun rice music boys hatred

noun + a book this bike that idiot the dog

modifiers some books these bikes those idiots two dogs

proper Jane Smith Chicago George Washington

name Lassie Maxine the Mississippi River

pronouns I/me he/him they/them it you she/her

we/us
 Pronouns differ from other noun phrases in
that they are used only after the noun to
which they refer, i.e., the referent, has
already been introduced into the narrative or
conversation.
I can't eat clams. They give me a rash.
I like Danny Glover. He is a fine actor.
The dog is upset. She doesn't want to go to
the kennel.
 A subject is a far simpler structure than a
predicate. In a simple sentence, a subject is
a single structure, while a predicate can have
internal structure, i.e., structures within
structures.

The child [slept].

The child [threw [the ball]].
The child [threw [Marty] [the ball]].
The child [threw [Marty] [the ball] [during
the game]].
1. In some instances the subject controls the form of the
verb. If a subject is singular (and third person) and the verb
is in the present tense, that verb must carry a special
singular marker {-sj as in Sue smokes and My brother lies.
(number agreement)
2. The subject also has a special role in the creation of
questions that are typically answered "yes" or "no. The
subject of the question is surrounded by verbs.
Lars can attend the party. Can Lars attend the party?
Kate is repairing your computer. Is Kate repairing your
computer?
Your teacher was fired. Was your teacher fired?
Erin has finished her homework. Has Erin finished her
homework?
3. The subject also controls the structure of
so-called tag questions, those little
questions speakers put at the end of a
statement in order to seek confirmation
Ben likes Carla, doesn't he? Sue left, didn't
she?

Note that he reflects the male status of the

subject Ben, and she reflects the female
status of Sue. Speakers of English couldn't
perform any of these operations unless they
could intuitively identify the subject of the
sentence.
 Number agreement and the creation of a question or
tag question are true diagnostics for subjecthood. Only
subjects stand in these relationships to the verb. While
word order is not a definitive diagnostic, it is extremely
useful. All of the graphic devices displayed above
indicate a subject followed by a predicate.

These graphics reflect prototypical word order. While

there are certainly exceptions, e.g., A Corvette he
wants now, the first NP in an English sentence is
typically the subject. When speakers choose to put an
NP other than the subject first in the sentence it is
almost always because they want to signal something
special like surprise or annoyance.
 a "doer" and an "action
Jack yelled
Bonnie studied all night
The child put the candy in her pocket
But to define the subject as a doer and the
predicate as an action would be misleading
Susan is tall; The wall looked dirty; My
mother was mugged last night
The agent subject is the classic doer of the action. An
agent subject is an animate being that acts deliberately,
with intent. Most speakers consider the agent the most
typical subject.

(a) (b)
Catherine's boss fired her. The little boy yelled.
Fred threw the Frisbee. Those kids are whispering.
Joan built a birdhouse. My niece smiled.
My sisters washed the car. Mom sat down.
The dog tore up the newspaper. The choir sang.
The mare devoured her oats. The bulldog
growled.
 The agents in column (a) are acting on
someone or something, i.e., the direct
object, while the agents in column (b) are
not acting on anyone or anything else. In
other words, an agent subject can occur with
or without a direct object.
Do amoebas, slugs, and other lower
creatures actually have agency?
Inanimate subjectsThe ATM machine
refuses to return my card; My computer ate
my term paper; The engine threw a rod.
A causer is either an animate being who acts
without volition or an inanimate entity.
Rob tripped Roy.
(Is Rob an agent or a causer?)
Animate causer subjects:
Mavis inadvertently touched the wet
paint.
Benjamin accidentally cut his finger.
Susanna bumped her head
 Sometimes animate causers unintentionally
affect another person's psychological state.
The clown (accidentally) frightened my
daughter.
Betsy hurt Rene's feelings inadvertently.
Michael Jordan amazes me.
Nan depresses her mother.
 It's not always easy to tell whether an
animate subject is an agent or a causer. Out
of context, we don't know whether the
following subjects are acting deliberately or
not.
Butch disgusts everyone.
The child amused the adults.
Professor Smith intimidates her students.
 Of course inanimate entities lack intention or volition
by their very nature. Causers can be things like rocks,
forces like tornadoes, or abstract qualities like love.

Hail cracked our windshield.

Oil stained the carpet.
A hurricane damaged the village.
The wind broke the window.
The revolution terrified the king.
Determination saved the family.
Hate destroyed her.

Causers always act on something or somebody else; hey

are always followed by a direct object.
 An instrument subject is an inanimate entity
which acts on someone or something else
because it is being used as an instrument.
The key opened the safe.
The tweezers removed the splinter.
Sometimes an instrument subject allows a
speaker to avoid taking responsibility.
My ball broke your window.
The hail broke your window.
 Instrument subjects are fairly unusual in
English. We most often find instruments in
(adverbial) prepositional phrases:

Meredith opened the safe with a key.

The nurse removed the splinter with the
tweezers.
I broke the window with my ball.
 Experiencer subjects are always animate,
usually human. An experiencer experiences a
sensory perception or a psychological state.
Each of our five senses allows for an agent
subject and an experiencer subject. How are
they different?
 Sensory verb with agent subject

Joan looked at the scar. [She examined it

carefully.]
Alex listened to the argument. [He put his
ear to the wall.]
Maria smelled the tulips. [She leaned over to
do so.]
Tony tasted the wine. [He put the glass to his
lips.]
Margaret felt the cloth. [She ran her fingers
over it.]
 Sensory verb with experiencer subject:

Joan saw some blood. [She didn't want to see

it.]
Alex heard the argument. [He couldn't help
it; they were screaming.]
Maria smelled smoke. [It wafted in through
the open window.]
Tony could taste pepper in the soup. [Too
much had been added.]
Margaret felt some pain. [It came on her
suddenly.]
 What kind of a subject do we have in the
following:
Gene smelled the perfume.
Sometimes the semantic difference between
an experiencer subject and an agent subject
is reflected in the verb and sometimes it's
not. In
look at vs see; listen'to vs hear (lexicalized
difference)
agentive smell vs experiencer smell (not
lexicalized)
 Mental state verbs (psych-verbs) also take experiencer
subjects. These subjects are not really engaging in
action. Normally when an agent acts, the direct object
is directly affected by that action. But none of the
experiencer subjects below has a direct effect upon the
direct object.

Joan wants a raise. Susan loves stamp

collecting.
Brad thinks about food constantly. Ted adores Sally.
Mary can't tolerate liver. I believe them.
Rich doesn't believe in love. Eric is dreaming.
She admires her mother. Sheila trusts her
son.
 The vase fell.
The plants died.
The door opened.
The traditional semantic label for an
affected subject or an affected direct object
is patient. A patient is never volitional; a
patient never exercises control; a patient is
an entity to which things happen.
a change of stateThe water boiled; The
chair broke; The water heater exploded;
Rosa fell; The mirror shattered.
 He laid the book on the table.
The intruder opened the door.
Maria broke the vase.
Dad thickened the sauce.
We emptied the pool.
The earthquake shook the house.
The frost froze my garden.
Alan darkens his hair.
Tom hung the clothes outside.
The baby bounced the ball.
 The book lay on the table.
The door opened.
The vase broke.
The sauce thickened.
The pool emptied.
The house collapsed.
My garden froze.
His hair darkened.
The clothes hung on the line.
The ball bounced.
 Some subjects are simply being characterized or
described by the information in the predicate. These
subjects always co-occur with copulas.
Michael is tall. [Tall describes Michael]
Marty seems pleasant. [Pleasant describes Marty]
This food is French.[French characterizes the food]
The bread was stale. [Stale describes the bread]

Other subjects are simply located in space.

Samson is in his doghouse.
The pots are in the bottom cupboard.
Tomi is on the porch.
The Centrust Building stands on Miami Avenue.
 anaphoric reference
Natalie bought a new car. It is a red
convertible.
empty it (expletive it)
It is hot!
It's foggy in Seattle.
It is cold in Alaska.
It was smoky in that restaurant
 it is not always semantically empty; its
semantic content is sometimes the
subsequent clause.
That my daughter had lied bothered me. /
It bothered me that my daughter had lied.
That Megan would win was predictable. / It
was predictable that Megan would win.
That Sam was mad was obvious. / It was
obvious that Sam was mad.
1. Locative subjects they simply name a
location
Seattle is foggy.
Alaska is cold.
This bar is smoky.
2. Temporal subjects - subjects that express
time
Wednesday is the baby's birthday.
Tomorrow is our anniversary.
Weekends are lonely.
3. Event subjects
The party is at 9 p.m; The concert is over.
 Agent subject Tom threw his socks on the
floor
My dog ate my term paper.

Causer subject Walter stubbed his toe.

The water damaged the
furniture.

Instrument subject The key opened the door.

The chain saw felled the
tree

Experiencer subject Benny wants a new sports

car.
I smell smoke.
 Patient subject Our pipes froze last night.
The chair broke.
Described subject That hairdo is hideous.
The room grew dark.

Located subject Marlene is in the yard.

Terry was on the boat.
Anaphoric it Here is the book. I is by T.S.Eliot

Empty it It is cold outside.

Cataphoric it It is sad that Juliet can't date Rome